Cole William Conroy

Cole was born at 8:26am on Tuesday, November 23, 2010.  He weighed in at 8lbs 6.7oz and is 21.25 inches long.  The c-section, which I fretted over for months, went surprisingly smooth!  My doctors and nurses were amazing, and Ben was the perfect partner through everything.  Cole went to the room with daddy and Pop (Dan- Ben's dad) after being delivered, and I went to recovery until 10:00am.  Cole is amazing and we had no problems with getting him to breast feed.

We wish everyone lived closer so Cole could meet all his relatives.  Ben's parent's, my dad, Marla, Bryanna, and Matt all came to visit Cole in the hospital.  Dr. Solomon poked his head in, but was sick, so didn't get too close :0)  My mom and Edgy will arrive this Saturday for a week.

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent recovering, Luke came to the hospital to meet his baby brother on Wednesday and both boys exchanged their gifts for each other.  Luke picked out the cutest bear for Cole, and Cole got Luke a cool racetrack.  Luke, so far, has adjusted beautifully!  He loves Cole and is constantly asking to hold him and giving him kisses.  He has tried to crawl into the pack n play with him, he doesn't really like it when Cole "eats" (I think it just weirds him out), and he likes to pull the blanket off Cole, because "he not cold"...  haha, but so far so good!

We came home on Thursday at 12:00noon, and Ben and I took a 4 hour nap, thanks to my family, who watched Luke and Cole (Mar Mar brought Cole in to eat half way through the nap).  Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and relaxing!  My family (Dad, Marla, Bry and Matt) stayed to help us until Sunday afternoon and we feel very blessed!  Thank you guys so much! 

Today has been great, and I am feeling great!  I'm still taking some pain meds, but have cut them in half.  By Friday I hope to just be on Motrin.  Ben's mom, Linda, is coming down to help on Wednesday and we are all looking forward to it.  We are so blessed that our families are amazing and although don't live near by, are always willing to drop everything to come help us!  Ben is off all this week except Tuesday and then he is going to take a few more days off after my mom and Edgy leave!  Again, truly a blessing and we are greatful to his boss!

Stay tuned for the adventures of the Conroy boys!

First few days off!

I am really enjoying being a stay at home mom!  Luke and I have had a fun filled week, and I'm looking forward to all the fun activities we can do together after the baby gets here as well.  Monday we went to the mall, and then down to my friends house to play for a bit.  Tuesday we went swimming all morning.  Yesterday we spent time at home, and Luke helped me cook lunch, I have to say that his mac n cheese was the best.  Today we had MOPS all morning and then lunch with Aunt B and Uncle Matt, and then we both took a three hour nap together!  Tomorrow we will hopefully get some cleaning done, and then Luke is having a "big brother" party with his friends and Ben and I are having a date night, thanks Liz :0)

I definitely feel like I have a lot more patience, even being 9 months pregnant.  I am now able to let Luke do a lot more things on his own, because we are never in a hurry for mommy to get back to work.  I find I have more energy, even being 9 months pregnant, because I am not constantly thinking about what I need to get done for work.  I am so greatful for all of my blessings and for my husbands support of me staying home with our kids.  Ben is so supportive and I truly think he wanted this more than I did, if that's possible.  Thank you Ben, and thank you for "putting up" with me these last few months, I know I have been a bear but I plan to be a bunny from now on :0), haha, ok let's not push it! 

I think we are ready for Cole William to arrive, or I guess as ready as we can be!  With less than 5 days left we better be :0) 

Luke's 2 Year Old Pictures

My extremely talented sister, Bryanna, took Luke's 2 year old pictures this weekend and we LOVE them!  It was a lot of fun, and I couldn't be happier with the results!  We went to the VT Duck Pond, and although we were a little late with the turning of the leaves, Bry was still able to get some fabulous shots!  Thanks Aunt B... I've already got her lined up to take the baby's pics when he arrives, so stayed tuned.  If anyone is interested in Bryanna taking pictures for them, let me know and I will give you her contact info!

Update!

It's amazing how quickly time flies!  In 12 days Luke's baby brother will be here, God willing!  Today we all watched home videos of the first days of Luke's life at the hospital, and some of Luke between the ages of newborn-5 months.  Luke didn't really get that the baby was him, until the older months when he started looking more like himself...  He was trying to talk to Ben on the TV, haha, and he also couldn't understand where everyone went... "where'd Mar Mar go?", "I want to see Nana", "where'd Grandma go?"  It was too cute! 

The binky is official gone!  Last weekend Mar Mar had the brilliant idea to have Beamer (the dog) chew the binky.  Grandpa then pretended to wash it off, and while doing so cut the tip off (as so many people have suggested).  When Luke put the binky in his mouth, he quickly pulled it out and responded "Beamer chewed it".  I then had Luke throw the binky in the garbage.  He has asked for his binky several times, I tell him "you know where it is" and he responds with "in the garbage, Beamer chewed it".  At the beginning of the week he did ask both Ben and I (seperately) to go to the store and get another one, haha!  The binky has been replaced with a monkey that his former babysitter gave him.  Now when Luke gets upset, or at bedtime, he asks for his monkey.  I have to say, that I am extremely proud of Luke and his easy adjustment to change!  If I would have known that it would have been this easy, I would have gotten rid of the binky months ago!  :0)

Luke was sick at the beginning of the week (and yes, this was just one day after getting rid of the binky).  He had a fever which spiked at 102.8... we did take him to the doctor to rule out strep.  He is all better now, thank goodness, and is looking forward to his guys night out with daddy tomorrow... They are getting hair cuts and then going to watch Hokie Basketball!  This will be Luke's first college game, and he is very excited :o)  I will be enjoying a girls night... dinner with Bry (and drinks for my 21 year old sister), and then my friend Kate is hosting a little get together at her house to celebrate the baby- Kate makes the best desserts!  Tomorrow is also my last day of work, so I will eat extra dessert (since I can't toast with an alcoholic beverage) to celebrate being a Stay At Home Mom!

Aunt B's birthday breakfast at IHOP!  Happy 21st!



Kisses Kisses Kisses!

Sick Luke and Daddy at the Doctor- Luke is all better now!

Gymnastics

One of the activities I am looking forward to doing when I stop working, is taking Luke to the "open gym" at Virginia Techniques.  Last Tuesday schools were closed, so I was able to take him, and it just so happens that the first Tuesday of every month they have inflatables! 

Going up the slide!

Luke went on the slide once, and then he had enough... he hurt his foot on the climb up, so I think that detered him from doing it again.  He did enjoy jumping at the bottom of the steps and the bottom of the slide. 



Coming down the slide!

He enjoyed the tiger inflatable, and always enjoys all of the other things this place has to offer.  This inflatable had a huge area on the inside, including a small slide that Luke found much more appealing over the big slide.

"Was that mom?"

Ready, set, jump!

I told him to lie back while I took the picture, haha!

















Dr. Appointments

Luke had his two year check up on Wednesday and everything went well!  He is in the 60th percentile for height, 40th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for his head circumfrence.  So pretty much he is right on track.  The doctor was pretty amazed, as are most people, with his vocabulary!  She said she could understand everything that he was saying, and typically she can only understand about half of what kids his age say.  He got one shot, and was a good sport about it!  We were told to get rid of the binky asap... it's definitely more laziness on mommy's part than anything else... I think I will do it this weekend because we'll have reinforcements here.  We are blessed that Luke is healthy, strong, and hitting his developmental milestones :)

I also had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, and I too am "right on schedule".  I'm one centimeter dialated, the baby's head is down (although still very far up), and my cervix is still thick.  Pretty much right where I should be for 37 weeks.  Wow, reading that back sounds pretty personal :)  Good thing only family and my good friends check my blog out :)  Haha!  The baby's room is finished, and this weekend we plan to pull out all the other baby "stuff", pack n play, swing...  I've got the baby's clothes laid out for the hospital, and will get my bag ready this weekend, just in case.  Right now, we know the baby will arrive in no more than 19 days!

I have 6 more days of work remaining, and I am definitely looking forward to that!  I'm going to miss my friends that I have made, but have every intention of keeping in touch :)  I've loved my job, and have been very fortunate to have so much flexibility!  But, I am definitely excited about giving my family 100% of my attention, and maybe just a little more attention to myself as well :)

Birthday Party & Halloween!



Enjoying birthday breakfast with Daddy!

Luke's 2nd Birthday was Saturday, October 30th.  We had a party for him in our backyard with his friends and he had a fabulous time!  It was a monster's themed party and we had corn hole, a ball pit, trampoline, tunnels, hay dig, mask painting and lots of food for all to enjoy.  I think it was a success and we hope that everyone had a great time.  It's hard to believe that my baby is 2 already.  We are so blessed that he is a healthy and happy little guy!  We took video, but of course I did not take any pictures, my father-in-law did however, so I'll share some once I get them from him.


Mommy's attempt at a Monster's Inc. Cake

Playing with on of his birthday presents!

This was house #2, Luke wanted to stop and eat some candy!

Halloween was a blast!  Luke dressed up as a VT Hokie Football Player (thanks Papa) and he kept everything except the helmet on for the whole time.  We went to about 5 houses and then Luke was ready to go home and pass out candy with daddy! 

"Really mom..."